The Films You Watched Thread V: Dead Men Watch No Movies

[Atticus]

Land of the Dead - it’s exactly how I remember ... rubbish, non-scary zoms and a TV movie sheen that makes it feel bland. The film has some decent ideas but none are explored with any conviction. Take Fiddler’s Green, my favourite idea in the film ... the safest place in the world is a skyscraper for the super rich ... love that ... could have been great but even that goes nowhere. And the film has a daft battle truck just because Not Romero’s finest hour.

[QualityChimp]

Land of the Dead - it’s exactly how I remember ... rubbish, non-scary zoms and a TV movie sheen that makes it feel bland. The film has some decent ideas but none are explored with any conviction. Take Fiddler’s Green, my favourite idea in the film ... the safest place in the world is a skyscraper for the super rich ... love that ... could have been great but even that goes nowhere. And the film has a daft battle truck just because Not Romero’s finest hour.

Totally agree with this.
I really wanted to love it, but it's just an also-ran in zombie movies.
Reasonably tense in the first 10 minutes, but just plods along after that, with the evolved zombies not that thrilling and the metaphor for ignoring the homeless less subtle than Day's consumerism critique.

Day of the Dead is so much better than this in so many ways.

[Atticus]

Home Alone
Been a while since I've seen this and it holds up really well despite now being thirty years old. What was really noticeable this time was the sheer amount of effort put into the films aesthetic to ensure that every single shot emanates a sense of Christmas. The clothing, wallpaper, furnishings, household objects etc is fully green and red themed in a way that would mean the McCallister household looks seasonal all year round in a really bizarre way in reality.

I'd never noticed that but that's a really good point, there's Christmas everywhere ... really clever filmmaking. Going to watch the first two with the family soon. Proper Christmas faves

[JazzFunk]

^HOME ALONE is grrrrrreat (and entirely shot in a school sports hall, iirc) but BABY'S DAY OUT is the zenith of that glut of movies like that of that era, what a badass, slapstick epic!!!!!

And so deliciously violent.

Back on track, yet ANOTHER film from The Horror Channel tonite. Schwarzers in THE 6TH DAY. Hmmmm.

Never seen this before despite owning the DVD since I first got my launch PS2 in late 2001.

Great first hour and ten minutes or so then I started snoozing, I fell asleep for over a quarter of an hour. It's really, really dull once that 70mins mark passes.

Pity. It has some great ideas, almost kicks off like it's gonna be a decent (if less edgy) retread of TOTAL RECALL but, instead, manages to piss all over its own fireworks.

It's a bit sad, this was shaping up to be fun but then I went all zzzzzzzzzz...

[JazzFunk]

PS one thing I forgot to add was how a fair chunk of its visual design reminded me of PERFECT DARK, especially the nocturnal helipad at the end. Makes sense as this came out in 1999.

Also, I've said it before but as it seems like I'm the only one who says this, but also check out DAGON and tell me the guys who made Resi 4 never watched it! Go on, cheggacheggidowd.

[Dogg Thang]

I watched Colossal at the weekend. I had never even heard of this film but it has an interesting premise - when a giant monster attacks Korea, a woman (Anne Hathaway) in America realises that she might be controlling it. Anyone expecting major Kaiju action will be disappointed but it’s a good character movie and quite different. And I didn’t see it going where it was going, which is kind of rare in movies. It doesn’t go down the obvious route and that makes the characters very interesting. I liked it.

[Neon Ignition]

More:

The Witches:
Inoffensive but as usual utterly neutered for modern audiences remake that diffuses the elements so much it renders the film pointless and bland.

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Been a long while since I saw this as we begin the process of watching these in order. It feels inescapable on rewatch - it is an utterly abysmal film that solely gets a pass of on the basis it's Star Wars related. It really is naff.

Enola Holmes
It's passable but for what it is you'd be better off watching the Downey Jr films.

The Exorcist II: The Heretic
Didn't think this would be as bad as it's known to be but from the strange sexualisation of Reagan to the odd imagery. Utterly bizarre that this is what they came up with as a sequel to the first.

Friday the 13th
I'd forgotten how slow and sedate the original is, it'll be good to get to the 'real' ones again.

Bram Stoker's Dracula
Sweet jesus, what cool-aid was drunk making this?! It's absolutely shockingly bad but in a fascinating and mental way. I remember it being huge on release but by the gods what a hilariously terrible film with everyone turning in their hammiest worst performances.

Airport 77
I like the premise, a hijacked plane crashing and sinking to the bottom of the ocean trapping all on board but as is par for the course with this franchise the execution isn't great.

Overall a weak run of watched films but we're halfway through a film from '78 and there's no question it's great

[CMcK]

I watched Colossal at the weekend. I had never even heard of this film but it has an interesting premise - when a giant monster attacks Korea, a woman (Anne Hathaway) in America realises that she might be controlling it. Anyone expecting major Kaiju action will be disappointed but it’s a good character movie and quite different. And I didn’t see it going where it was going, which is kind of rare in movies. It doesn’t go down the obvious route and that makes the characters very interesting. I liked it.

It’s a bit of a gem and as you rightly say you just wouldn’t have guessed where it goes. I thought the trailer was a bit spoilerific but turns out it really isn’t.

[QualityChimp]

Watched The Invitation (via Netflix) and it was good. They ratcheted up the tension reeeeeally slowly, which I liked.
Interesting conclusion.

Also saw Fantasy Island (via NowTV) and it's probably the first Blumhouse film that I didn't enjoy.
Quite good fun at first, but it really dragged by the end and I wanted it to wind up.

[Atticus]

Mother! - Totally bonkers and ultimately not that enjoyable or satisfying. Started promisingly but I liked it less as it went on. And I'm not even going to try and work out what was going on in the end.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Chamber of Secrets - These are just the tonic ... and despite not being Christmas films per se they're great to watch at this time of year. The first two might be the most conventional but they're still absolutely brilliant.

[Dogg Thang]

I watched Safety Not Guaranteed last night. I had never seen it before and knew very little about it. Absolutely loved it. A really beautiful gem of a film. Simple concept - based on the old ‘wanted - someone to go back in time with me’ personal ad, it’s about some journalists who track down the guy who placed the ad to see if he’s serious. Around that, it’s a little character film about regret and the want to change the past.

To me, it felt really personal. I feel like I wasted a lot of energy wanting a do-over rather than living in the present and seeing what I actually have right now. So the movie kind of hit me in the gut. But it’s funny and lovely and small and the performances are perfect. That guy who was also in The Morning Show is superb. He needs to be in more stuff. I loved this film.

[Neon Ignition]

Superman: The Movie
Still timeless with Reeves turning in a great turn in the role from the bumbling nature of Clark, the stern jawness of Superman and that screaming agony moment of Lois' death. Still a great.

Smokey and the Bandit
I figured this one would have aged the most but to be honest it was decent fun. Reynolds and his buddy share some good lines with only the Sheriff proving the real awkward one given his... dated comments etc but given he's effectively the bad egg in the film it can be taken as adding to him as the villain.

[wakka]

I watched Safety Not Guaranteed last night. I had never seen it before and knew very little about it. Absolutely loved it. A really beautiful gem of a film. Simple concept - based on the old ‘wanted - someone to go back in time with me’ personal ad, it’s about some journalists who track down the guy who placed the ad to see if he’s serious. Around that, it’s a little character film about regret and the want to change the past.

To me, it felt really personal. I feel like I wasted a lot of energy wanting a do-over rather than living in the present and seeing what I actually have right now. So the movie kind of hit me in the gut. But it’s funny and lovely and small and the performances are perfect. That guy who was also in The Morning Show is superb. He needs to be in more stuff. I loved this film.

I really like this film too, I’ve seen it a couple of times. It really resonates with me.

[Baseley09]

Tenet, at last. For the first hour I had no idea what was going on - nowt to do with the "mechanics" the story plays with, just where are these people going and why? High confusion reigned but it started to fall in place, and by the end I came away having enjoyed it. I really liked Patterson I feel like he's a man I can rely on these days, and our main protagonist was cool, if a bit short.

Watched it again 2 days later and thourally enjoyed it being more intune with it.

[MarioMark]

Home Alone came out 30 years ago this Christmas. We are all old